PURPOSE. To issue revised pages to the FHWA Delegations and Organization Manual.

EXPLANATION OF CHANGES.

The Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Headquarters and field restructuring
was implemented on February 1, 1999, and October 1, 1998, respectively.
The restructuring is documented in the Department of Transportation (DOT)
Organization Manual (DOT 1100.63B).

This change revises the FHWA Delegations and Organization Manual, Part
I (Delegations of Authority), Chapter 3 (Reservations)
regarding those administrative authorities which are reserved to the Secretary
and the Administrator, and Chapter 4 (Administrative)
in its entirety. These chapters are revised to: (1) reflect the Headquarters
and field restructuring; (2) delegate authorities to the lowest practical
level; and to (3) generally update the delegations of authority, including
the addition of new delegations and the deletion of obsolete ones. Delegations
are made directly to Core Business Unit (CBU) Program Managers, Service
Business Unit (SBU) Directors, Resource Center Directors, Division Administrators,
Federal Lands Highway (FLH) Division Engineers, and/or Motor Carrier State
Directors. In addition, in contrast to the other chapters for which
the default rule is that you cannot redelegate an authority unless specifically
authorized, this change to Chapter 4, in deference to the concept of empowerment,
provides that permission to redelegate an authority is granted unless
otherwise stated. Other chapters in this manual will be revised accordingly
in future updates.

Throughout the remainder of this manual, all references to the former
Associate Administrator and Staff Office organizations, and to the former
regions or regional offices, are superseded by appropriate references
to the new Headquarters and field organizational structure pending the
eventual revision of the entire manual. The determination as to the appropriate
organizational reference should be based on the assignment of functions
and delegations of authority as stated in the DOT Organization Manual
and this manual.

Part I is amended as follows:

(1) Chapter 3 (Reservations):

(a) Organizational and position titles are revised throughout to reflect
the Headquarters and field restructuring.

(b) Section 1 (Reservations by the Secretary) is revised as follows:

1 Paragraph 5 (Personnel), subparagraph a, is revised to add
to the Secretary's reservations, the authority to make recommendations
to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on the allocation of a
position to the Senior Level (SL) and the Scientific or Professional
(ST) classifications.

2 Paragraph 6 (Security) is revised to delete the Secretary's
reservation to fill critical sensitive positions for a limited period
as this authority is now delegated to the Director of Administration,
and further redelegated to the Director, Office of Human Resources,
in Chapter 4. Subsequent subparagraphs are renumbered.

3 Paragraph 9 (Interdepartmental and Interagency Agreements)
is retitled to reflect the full contents of the reservation of authority.

4 Paragraph 10, retitled Information Technology, is updated
to reflect current terminology and the current governing DOT Order.

(c) Section 2 (Reservations by the Administrator) is revised as follows:

1 Paragraph 14 (Administrative):

a Organizational and position titles are revised to reflect
the Headquarters and field restructuring.

b Subparagraph a (Personnel):

(1) Subparagraph (2) (Selection of Division Administrators)
is updated to reflect the Program Manager job series (GS-340).

(2) Subparagraph (3) (Labor Management Relations) is revised
to delete the requirement that OST's Directorof Personnel and
Training approve all written agreements. This authority is now
delegated to FHWA.

(3) Subparagraph (4), retitled Approval of Cash Awards
of $10,000 or Less, is revised to reflect that the Administrator
reserves the authority to approve, up to $10,000, cash awards
which exceed the maximum approval authority of certain officials.
Also, a Personnel Management Manual reference is added.

(4) Subparagraph (6) (Nominations for Unusually Outstanding
Performance Awards) is revised to reserve to the Administrator
the authority to approve these awards, deleting the requirement
to obtain the approval of the Deputy Secretary or his/her designee.

c Subparagraph b (Travel) is revised in its entirety, including
the following:

(1) Subparagraph (1), retitled International, is revised
to reflect the Administrator's reservations with regard to certain
international travel and the acceptance of offers of travel payments.

(2) Subparagraph (2), retitled Special Travel Approvals,
is revised to reflect the Administrator's reservation with regard
to the authorization of premium-class service on common carrier
transportation.

(3) Footnotes are added identifying certain travel authorities
on the part of the Administrator and the Assistant Secretary for
Aviation and International Affairs.

d The reservation of authority with respect to federally
created bridge commissions was made obsolete by the Transportation
Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) and is therefore deleted.
Subsequent paragraphs are renumbered.

f Subparagraph f (Performance of Commercial Activities)
is retitled and revised in its entirety, including the following:

(1) Subparagraph (1) (Written Appeals) is added, reserving
to the Administrator the authority to serve as the final FHWA
appeals official.

(2) Subparagraph (2) (Federal Activities Inventory Reform
Act of 1998 (FAIR Act of 1998, Public Law 105-277)) is added,
reserving to the Administrator the authority to receive and decide
an appeal from an interested party of an adverse decision rendered
by the Director of Administration.

2 Paragraph 15 (Federal-aid and Federal Lands):

a Subparagraph b is updated to refer to the current FLH
program and regulations, and agency heads with whom these regulations
should be coordinated.

b Subparagraph d is revised to clarify that the reservation
regards the allocation of funds authorized to be appropriated for
the Public Lands Highway Discretionary Program, and the citation
is changed to 23 U.S.C. 202(b).

c Subparagraphs h and i, regarding right-of-way relinquishment
and changes in access control, are updated to refer to Division
Administrators with respect to authorities delegated in Chapter
5 (Federal-aid).

(a) Organizational and position titles are revised to reflect the Headquarters
and field restructuring. A footnote is added stating that, in deference
to the concept of empowerment, permission to redelegate an authority
is granted unless otherwise stated.

(b) Delegations were reworded and regrouped for clarity and ease of
reference. In addition, footnotes are added identifying specific travel
authorities on the part of the FHWA Administrator and certain OST officials, etc.

(c) Chapter is revised and restructured in its entirety; therefore,
it is not practical to list each change. Delegations of authority have
been added, revised, or deleted, as appropriate.

1 Obsolete delegations of authority include:

a the final review and approval of State highway agencies'
single audit plans and procedures;

a with respect to the field, Resource Center Directors,
Division Administrators, and Motor Carrier State Directors are delegated
theauthority to approve organization structures and changes within
their respective organizations, and to determine whether to have
selected functions and services carried out by one organization
on behalf of another; and

b within their area of responsibility, certain Headquarters
and field officials are delegated the authority to enter into formal
agreements with their operational equivalents in other Federal,
State, and local government agencies, and nongovernmental agencies,
as necessary.

Minor technical and grammatical revisions are also included in this change
and are reflected by a change line in the manual text but are not listed here.